U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich travelled to Saxman's Totem Row Park in August of 2011 to assist community members in raising two new Bear Entrance Poles; duplicates of older poles which reached the end of their lifespan. Saxman looks forwards to raising 5 additional totem poles within the next 2 years.
Photo courtesy City of Saxman

The park was created through a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps program, which collected totem poles from abandoned villages throughout southeast Alaska, and hired Alaska Native people to carve duplicates. Saxman is also home to the Chief Kashakes House – the last example of a “balloon frame” clan house still standing in southeast Alaska. The Kashakes House is home to two early 20th century totem poles, and a Russian cannon dating back to the 18th century.

In 2010, the City of Saxman submitted Totem Row Park and the Chief Kashakes House for consideration for inclusion on the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation (AAHP) “Most Endangered Historic Properties” list. The Kashakes House and Cultural Items made #1 on the list, due to the advanced decay of the property, and challenging issues of ownership. Totem Row Park was ranked as the #5 Most Endangered property in the State, due to the difficulty and expense of maintaining wooden totem poles exposed to southeast Alaska’s harsh maritime climate. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Alaska: Troopers Ramp Up Patrols for Halloween Weekend - The Alaska State Troopers will be out conducting enforcement efforts to ensure the safety of Alaskans while they celebrate Halloween this weekend. Local law enforcement agencies will also participate in the enhanced enforcement efforts from October 25th to November 1st.

The ramped up enforcement conducted by the Alaska State Troopers over the holiday will mostly be focused on DUI enforcement for both alcohol and drugs. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

At an Anchorage ceremony last Friday during the federation’s annual convention, AFN President Julie Kitka gave Worl its Citizen of the Year award, saying Worl had dedicated her life to helping Native people from one corner of the state to the other.

“I venture to say there’s probably nobody’s life that has not been touched by the efforts that she has put into her work helping the Native community over her lifetime,” Kitka said.

AFN Co-Chair Albert Kookesh said he went to college with Worl, noting she went to two schools to earn her bachelor’s degree quicker, before earning her Ph.D. at Harvard.

“Rosita is one of the most educated people that we have in our midst,” Kookesh said. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Southeast Alaska:Honored Tlingit Elder Receives Award - Alaska Governor Sean Parnell awarded the 2011 Shirley Demientieff Award last Friday to Tlingit elder Ethel Lund at the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention in Anchorage. The award is given each year at AFN convention by the governor of Alaska for advocacy on behalf of Alaska Native women and children.

Lund, originally of Wrangell, is one of the founders of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). She has served as its president. SEARHC began in 1975 as a small organization led by an Alaska Native volunteer board of directors – mostly women from remote villages. Over the last three decades, SEARHC has grown into one of the largest health care organizations in Alaska. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Peter Kott pled and was convicted of bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B). Pursuant to the plea agreement, Kott was sentenced to 17 months in prison, the time he has already served, and placed on three years of supervised release with a curfew for the first twelve months. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Victor Kohring was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and similarly sentenced to time he had previously served (12 months in prison) and placed on supervised release for a period of 18 months. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Alaska Science: Alaska creatures without us By NED ROZELL - In Alan Weisman’s book, The World Without Us, the author ponders “a world from which we all suddenly vanished. Tomorrow.”

Songbirds like this ruby-crowned kinglet would probably do better if people flew away.
Photo by Ned Rozell

In last week’s column, a few experts discussed the fate of Alaska structures if Alaskans were to disappear. This week, people who study Alaska’s wildlife donate some thought to the subject.

Alaska’s lack of people has benefited many species, including caribou, which still outnumber Alaskans, and salmon, which torpedo up our rivers with a staggering, wonderful density that was once seen all over the west coast of North America.

Mark Wipfli has spent many hours on salmon streams throughout Alaska, and the University of Alaska biologist has thought many times of mankind’s impact on salmon. If people were to disappear, Wipfli envisions a slow healing of damage done to salmon habitat. In Alaska, that means the recovery from logging and mining of streamside forests that provide everything from fish food in the form of insects to the contribution of dead trees to waterways (for erosion control and creation of eddies and other features good for salmon).

Old-growth forests (with trees aged from 50 to 200 years) provide ideal conditions for salmon, just as those same trees have benefited us with stout building materials. The mining of minerals we use every day has also disrupted life for salmon. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Questions, please contact
the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
Sitnews reserves the right to edit.

Thank you Ketchikan By Don Hoff Jr. - On behalf of the Hoff Family and extended Family, we want to thank all Tillie L. Hoff's friends and family in the Ketchikan, Saxman, Metlakatla and Prince of Wales Island for their prayers, donations of money, food and flowers. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

RE: IneptocracyBy Ken Leland - Once again, Mr. Johnson, you have hit the nail on the head. That is a beautiful description of our Federal, State, Borough and City Government. I may not have that much knowledge of the State or City Government, but I was impacted by the Borough and I spent 6 1/2 years in Washington, D.C. observing the Federal animal in action. - More...
Thursday AM - October 27, 2011

Covered area for cruise ship staff By
Mike Dooley - I agree with Jill Gates. Let's keep in mind the cruise lines pay a fee to dock in Ketchikan. Cruise ship passengers also pay a head tax, and sales tax on tours and purchases. It is my understanding the head tax revenues have to be used for cruise ship related expenses and improvements. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 25, 2011

Open Letter to KGB: Fiscal tethering account chargesBy
Edmund J. Fry, III - As a matter of public records, I would like to inquire some fiscal analysis of the current sludge fee program. There are 2 questions that I would like to have answered and they are: - More...
Tuesday AM - October 25, 2011

Whale Watching By
Seth Gross - I live in Portland Oregon but lived in Ketchikan for several years during the 90's and I still visit regularly. I am a huge fan of the KPU Ketchikan web cams and look at them at least once a day. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 25, 2011

Airport Parking - more KGB overreach By Chris Barry - According to the Airport management recently regarding snow removal and winter upkeep in the airport parking lots on the town side, the parking lots are not in the lease with the state and therefore, not the KGB's responsibility to maintain. Yet, somehow they feel obligated to patrol the lots (both short and long term parking) writing tickets, collecting fines and booting peoples' vehicle. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 25, 2011

RE: Septic System Boondoggle By Don Borders - I am in complete agreement with Mr. Stallings and Mr. Fry. A larger, intrusive, wasteful local government competing with private companies is just wrong. Their, Ketchikan Gateway Borough council, actions are competing with the private sector and being a government function very inefficient and a waste our taxpayer dollars. Other operations within the Borough are privatized; a Local sanitation company has a fee-based collection operation. So why not include the septic systems dealing with the pumped sludge. - More...
Friday AM - October 21, 2011

Political humor By
A.M.Johnson - During these times of political moments, this perhaps, is a outstanding addition to the political speak depicting the current debate. - More...
Friday AM - October 21, 2011

Baby BearBy
Deborah Hayden - AWWWWWW! Wasn't he cute, the baby bear running through Tatsuda's produce section? Oh, boy, it's great he was on national news and put Ketchikan into the national spotlight for something other than Nowhere status. - More...
Friday AM - October 21, 2011

PerspectiveBy
James Schenk - With all the negatives that affect our lives everyday it is sometimes hard to keep things in perspective. Well I am not here to preach but only to suggest something again you have heard before. This is your life, one person in life can make a difference in anything we wish to pursue, even if you do not see immmediate results everything we do affects people around us. - More...
Friday AM - October 21, 2011

Septic System BoondoggleBy
Shelley Stallings - I am in complete agreement with Mr. Fry about the waste of money and resources our current septic system policy imposes upon Ketchikan home owners. This one size fits all doesn't fit all, probably only 'fits' 10% or less of home owners. The frequency of pumping needed for any specific septic system varies widely from 1 to 2 years at the high end to possibly 15-20 years on the low end. Being a single occupant home owner who monitors carefully what is being put into my septic tank, I estimate I have easily paid thousands of dollars MORE than required to keep my system operating efficiently since this wasteful program has been in place. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 18, 2011

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